Misty – Here Again

Misty – Here Again

Grapefruit Records

CD/DL

Released 16 September 2022

First ever issue of Prog/Psych band Misty’s 1970 album that was only previously available as a rare acetate. This set comes with four bonus tracks recorded at a television showcase. Ian Canty writes…

Misty’s story begins in 1968 with keyboard maestro Michael Gelardi meeting a young Steve Bingham while playing in a Soul band backing up singer Sonny Burke. The pair became a songwriting team and soon looked to launch their own group that reflected more the rapid changes going on in the Pop/Rock world. Psychedelia had opened up the field, meaning a host of new influences could be utilised in Popular Music. The Nice and Procol Harum led the way for introducing classical elements into Pop and Gelardi and Bingham wanted a piece of that action.

Steve brought in singer Tony Wootton and drummer Bill Castle also joined up. Barry McCann was the first Misty guitarist, but his stay was relatively brief with Freddie Green soon replacing him. The band also gained a manager in Harry Hadaway, who ran the Satril Agency. This was later branched out into a record label that amongst a diverse roster once included the mighty Neon Hearts, but I digress.

Meanwhile back in 1969 the future head of Channel 4 and BBC1 controller Michael Grade was dabbling in the music world with a talent agency called London Management. After Hadaway arranged what was basically a working holiday in Beirut (which Bingham dipped out of and led to Castle leaving the band to be replaced by John Timms), Misty came into contact with Michael Grade. This was through Michael Gelardi’s father telling Kenneth Hall, chair of London Management, about his son’s promising band. After meeting with Grade and his pop Leslie, a very impressed Michael threw his financial weight behind Misty, kitting them out with brand new equipment and footing the bills for rehearsal time.

A visit to the famous Regent Sound facility in Denmark Street yielded the bulk of what is featured on Here Again. London Management were close to EMI and a deal with off-shoot Parlophone was agreed. It was judged that the first single by the band should have a bit more work on it, so Misty went to the swish Olympic Studios with a brass section in tow to cut their sole vinyl release, the catchy Hot Cinnamon/Cascades 45.

Grade, with the kind of hype uncle Lew would have been proud of, did Misty few favours by calling them “The future of Rock Music”. He also compared them favourably with The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, while hinting these newcomers would attain a similar status as those two outfits. Initially all looked good though, with the Hot Cinnamon single being released in the summer of 1970 and their very own pair television specials, both entitled The Sound Of Misty, arranged with Border TV.

Here’s where the tale gets stickier. Hot Cinnamon, despite its strengths, never made much of an impact and as a result Parlophone baulked at releasing a Misty album. As efforts to place the long player with other labels including Red Bus floundered, Misty drifted apart, with Steve Bingham joining The Foundations and then Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance.

All was quiet until Michael Gelardi, on finding out how Misty’s Hot Cinnamon single was changing hands for serious bunce two years ago, dug out his own copy of the Misty album on acetate. Four live tracks from one of their TV specials were secured too and together they constitute what is included on Here Again.

This set begins with Witness For The Resurrection. Though the ponderous classical organ intro may have one fearing the worst, when the band kick in with punchy organ jabs and a bouncy energy we can quickly dispense with those worries. Title track Here Again follows with lovely, lite Psych touches and A Question Of Trust has a knotty, quirky rhythm that always seems set to trip itself up.

Julie is a charming, quality Psych Pop tune which seems ideal for single release and then the softer sound of I Can See The Stars makes use of some fine backing vocals and benefits from a sparser arrangement. An agreeable Toytown Pop intro heralds the start of Harmonious Blacksmith, another really accessible number, with the driving Hot Cinnamon single following and impressing greatly. That tune’s flipside Cascade comes next and feels in this company a bit of a makeweight that takes Misty close to MOR, but a lively Animal Farm gets the collection back on track.

The moody R&B-tinged jam style of I Will Be There is well constructed around massed vocals and an oddball keyboard riff, before the pure daft Pop of Lazy Guy. The Here Again album ends with a groovy John’s Song and Final Thoughts, where a brooding, haunting tune glides smmothly towards its conclusion.

After this we have the four songs from The Sound Of Misty. Good versions of Witness For The Resurrection, Cascades, Hot Cinnamon and a very punchy John’s Song are linked by brief stage announcements. They’re very polished takes that perhaps don’t give that much of an insight into how Misty cut it in a live arena, but they are nice to have. All things considered, Here Again is a bit of a peach.

Misty tended far more towards the Pop end of Prog/Psych and their bright, organ-led tunes are very easy on the ear and even quite funky and danceable. There’s ample evidence of their Soul/R&B roots as something that keep things brisk and tight, even if they occasionally amble close to easy listening. Overall, there is enough evidence on Here Again to suggest that though they may not have been quite “The future of Rock Music”, they did have plenty of positive qualities about them.

Misty’s Here Again can be tracked down here